1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to generating information for sending items by mail or carrier, and more particularly to a system and method for determining postal and/or private carrier rates for letters, packages, parcels, and other mail items using a computer program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer programs have been developed for calculating postage and carrier rate information for letters, packages, and other items. These programs have proven desirable because they perform all the functions for preparing an item for mailing or shipping at a single location.
A computer program of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,507 to Kara. The Kara system is a Windows-type program that automatically computes postage based on weight measurements taken by an electronic scale connected to a communications port of a computer. Once postage has been computed, the program instructs a peripheral device to print an envelope or label bearing a stamp of appropriate value.
For all of their advantages, computer-based systems of this type are not optimum for at least three reasons. First, these systems require a physical connection to exist between an electronic scale and the computer incorporating the program. This is undesirable, especially in an office setting, because it increases the amount of equipment each secretary is required to have at her workstation and consequently increases overhead costs.
Second, known systems essentially require a user, such as a secretary, to perform all the mailing and shipping operations herself. For example, secretaries who use conventional postage computing systems must not only type and print out letters to be mailed, they must also weigh the letters, compute the postage, print out postage-bearing stamps, affix the stamps to the letters, and then carry the letters to a mail room or other place of mailing. Conventional methods, therefore, cause secretaries to waste time performing monotonous, inefficient tasks which could be put to more productive use.
Third, known systems are unsuitable for heavy or unusually sized mail items. This is attributable mainly to their reliance on electronic scales that typically have a small weight (e.g,. five to ten pound) capacity. As a result, manual methods often have to be employed for determining postage for larger or unusually sized items.
A need therefore exists for a system and method that determines postal and private carrier rates faster and more efficiently than those conventionally employed, and which is also suitable for use with packages of all sizes and weights.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a system and method for computing postage and/or private carrier rates which is faster and more efficient than those conventionally employed.
It is another object of the present invention to achieve the aforementioned objective by computing postal/carrier rates in a manner that does not require a physical connection to exist between an electronic scale and a computer running a postage-computing program, thereby allowing a single electronic scale to satisfy the needs of a plurality of workstations and thus reducing the amount of equipment and overhead costs in an office.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for computing postal/carrier rates which reduces the number of time-inefficient tasks a user must perform, thereby increasing work productivity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for computing postal/carrier rates which is suitable for use with heavy and/or unusually sized items, as well as for standard sized letters and light-weight packages.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a system for generating information for sending items by mail or private carrier, which system includes an electronic scale for weighing an item, a printer which prints encoded information on a sheet of material indicative of the weight of the item, a computer terminal running a program for computing postal/private carrier rates, and a scanner which scans the encoded information and then inputs data indicative of the weight of the item into the program. The electronic scale may be one capable of weighing items of a variety of weights and sizes, including small letters and packages (e.g., five pounds or less)all the way up to items in excess of seventy pounds or any other heavier weight. Further, the printer may be incorporated within a housing of the scale or within a stand-alone unit interfaced to a communications port of the scale. For convenience purposes, the sheet of material (e.g., paper, tape, plastic, etc.) may be adapted to stick to the item. Optionally, the printer may be one adapted to print the encoded information directly on the item by spraying ink or other conventional techniques.
The method of the present invention includes the steps of weighing an item on an electronic scale, printing encoded information on a sheet of material indicative of a weight of the item as determined by the electronic scale, providing a program at a computer terminal which computes postal/private carrier rates based on weight information, scanning the encoded information to input information indicative of the weight of the item into the program, and computing a postal/carrier rate based on the weight information derived from the encoded information using the program. In the system and method described herein, the encoded information may be in the form of a bar code, maxicode, holographic code, or any other code or mark, conventionally known or otherwise, in which information may be encrypted.
In optional embodiments, the encoded information printed and scanned by the invention may include information in addition to weight information. The additional information may be entered into the scale or stand-alone printer by a user, for example, via a scale or printer keyboard or other input device, and may include one or more of customer account data, department data, method of mailing/shipping data, employee identification data, and company identification data. When this data is scanned along with the weight information, the rate computed by the mailing/shipping program at the computer terminal may be automatically associated with that customer for billing and accounting purposes.
According to other aspects of the invention, certain features of the mailing/shipping program may be automatically activated based on the data scanned. For example, if method of mailing/shipping data is encoded indicating that an item is to be sent by private courier (e.g., FEDERAL EXPRESS), the FEDERAL EXPRESS page of the program may automatically be displayed for the employee""s convenience. Additionally, various fields of this page may automatically be filled based on the scanned data, thereby further expediting the mailing/shipping process.
The system and method are particularly well suited for use in businesses which have high-volume mailing and shipping demands, as the bar coding of weight information advantageously enables an assembly-line-like process to be established which streamlines efficiency and office productivity.